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Vladimir Komarov, Soviet Cosmonaut
Bust of Vladimir Komarov (1927-1967), Soviet cosmonaut. Komarov made his first space flight in 1964, when he served as the commander of Voskhod 1, the first spacecraft to carry a crew of three. In 1967, he was selected to pilot Soyuz 1, a solo craft which was intended to perform the first Soviet space docking. For political reasons, the launch was carried out despite known problems with the craft. Soyuz 1 suffered power and altitude control failures while orbiting. The spacecraft's parachutes failed to deploy properly on re-entry on 24 April 1967, and it impacted the ground at 30-40 metres per second, killing Komarov instantly. Photographed in Moscow, Russia., by DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
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